Worth It
by HoT.aGaiNsT.a.WaLL
Summary: I know he's not, Casey... but you are. Dasey. Fluffy. Review please. Derek-centric.


**Disclaimer: **Don't own it. Never will.

**Warning:** Foul Language, and…Just… fluff.

**Author's Note:** Sitting at home with nothing to do because all my friends live, like, forever away. So, I'm writing another little ficlette about my fav. Paring. Dasey! LA 'verse again!!! Hope you like it :D

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_I hate you!_

The three words that started it all. The three words that in all the time they'd known each other, even after all the insults and fighting, they never had said it before this day. Not once. Now, thanks to Derek's fantastic fuck-up, Casey was pissed as all hell at him. He'd gone and done that stupid thing he tends to do, and commented on her love life. Which had only recently come down on a rapid decline since Casey and Derek left for college in July, and her and Truman had tried to work the whole long distance thing. But Truman was Truman, and there were a lot of hot college girls where he was apparently. It ended with a yelling match over the phone while Derek was over at Casey and her roomie's condo watching the hockey game on their flat screen TV.

Luckily, he and Emily had parted on kinder terms. No fighting. No yelling. Just, 'Hey, we aren't gonna work.' and 'I'd have to agree. Let's just be friends'. See? Nice and easy. The water works had started the second she hung up on the phone with Trashman, and she'd chucked the phone across the room. A pile of metal and plastic and wires was still there last time he checked. He'd wanted to kick Truman's ass all over again. He'd done it once before, but apparently the message didn't stick. Or maybe Derek had just destroyed too many of the guy's brain cells. Either way, it made him see red at the sight of Casey crumpled on the hard wood floor, sobbing into her hands. And seeing as new bff Haley had gone to the store, he stuck around to deal with the tears.

And there had been a _lot_ of tears.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. Derek had teased her at the wrong time about how boys always seemed to get away from her, and she'd unleashed her fury. Yelling, screaming, and the occasional scratching had sent him reeling in retaliation. She was poised like cobra, ready to strike with more insults that he would brush off then and think about later, but then she hissed those three words…

_I hate you!_

Derek gulped back the nausea and made a face as he stared down at the McDonald's breakfast in front of him. It still made him sick. He'd only been teasing, but she took it so seriously. And now when they had to walk past each other in the campus hallways, she'd give him the cold shoulder. It was like she _really did_ hate him. Which only made him sicker.

"You alright, D?" Sam asked as he took a big bite of breakfast burrito. His tall friend had driven north for the weekend from San Diego State for a visit, and Derek was undyingly grateful.

"Yeah, Sam," Derek nodded, but took a deep breath and changed his mind. "You know what? No. No, I'm not alright."

"What's going on?" His friend's brows furrowed in confusion as he swallowed the bite he'd been chewing and he set his meal down.

"It's Casey," He sighed as he buried his face in his hands, leaning against the table.

"Isn't it always?" Sam smirked, quirking a brow.

Glaring at him between his fingers, Sam dropped the smirk and looked serious. "Yes, but it's different this time."

"How so?"

"She said," Derek gulped, dropping his hands down onto the metal table-top, and he could feel a lump forming in his throat. One that he usually only got when he was about to talk about his _feelings_. "She said that she… that she h-ha-hat—"

Sam's eyes went wide as saucers and he stood, slamming his hands down on the table; almost choking on his own saliva. "She said she hated you?!"

Glancing around, Derek gave him a look that said 'What the _hell_?' and gesture to Sam's seat. "Would you sit down and shut up? I don't want a crowd."

"Right," Sam dropped back down into his chair and slouched a bit. "Sorry."

"It's alright," He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Just don't—Don't do it again, okay?"

"You got it, D." Sam nodded, taking a drink from the coffee Derek had gotten for _himself_. "Anything else?"

Shaking his head, he couldn't help but grin at his friend's hy-jinx. "You are such a fuckin' moocher, man."

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"You're going to talk to her about it sometime, right?" Sam asked for the twentieth time that day.

"No, Sam! We're going over to her place _just_ so you can see her," Derek replied, sarcasm dripping from every word as he hit his friend over the head. "Duh!"

"I couldn't be sure!" He flinched, and rubbed the sore part of his head. "Jeez, D… Take it easy."

Derek's fingers twitched, making Sam shut up. He knew what was good for him, that was for sure. Sighing, the shorter of the two reached out and his the 318 buzzer, waiting for a reply. If it was Casey, she _might_ let them in if only to smother Sam in a giant hug. If it was Haley, she'd let them up right away. He sighed in relief as he heard a loud curse over the intercom.

"Oh, _shit!_" The red head swore some more under her breath before actually answering. "Hello?"

"It's Derek," He said while pushing the talk button. "Can I come up?"

"Um…" She sounded indecisive… That wasn't good. "You know what? Yeah, we could use a little help getting rid of this _guy_."

Before he could even ask, they were being buzzed up. Sam pushed open the glass door that was the entrance and Derek followed him, his brows furrowed in worry and confusion. By the time they'd reached the floor Casey lived on, Derek's blood was boiling. Truman was out side their door, holding Casey by the arm with a firm grip, and his eyes were pleading.

"Please, Casey," He begged, and Derek saw red all over again. "I didn't mean it! I was drunk, and she looked so much like you—"

Haley's green eyes spotted him from the doorway, and she looked relieve. "Oh, thank god! Derek would you please get this guy to stop harassing us?"

Casey whipped around, shaking Truman's grip for once, and her eyes lit up in an indescribable emotion as her blue orbs locked with his. Her lips were parted and bruised, like she'd been kissed with extreme force, and that sent Derek over the edge. Normally, he had an enormous amount of self-control, but when it came to Casey… Stalking over, he shoved Truman back with a soft grunt and glare down at him as the paler man's back collided with a wall.

"Get lost, Trashman," Derek growled in warning, but Truman didn't back down.

The younger of the two swung a fist stupidly, and Derek caught it easily, but winced slightly at the force behind it. Crackling his knuckles, he brought his own fist across Truman's cheek; making the man stumble and cry out in shock and pain.

"Der-_ek_!" Casey grabbed his arm and pulled him back before he could try anything else.

"Oh, c'mon Casey!" He turned one her, this time his eyes pleading. "You can't take he side after all that he's done—"

"I'm not," She said softly, and he came to a screeching halt.

"You're not?"

"No," She smiled, and shook her head, her brown hair falling around her shoulders. "Just leave him be. He's not worth it."

Stepping closer, he leaned in so that only she could hear over the groaning noises Truman was making in the corner. "Yeah, but you _are._"

Blushing, she nodded in thanks and pulled him inside past Haley, who was making goo-goo eyes at Sam and he was reciprocating. The door shut with a soft click, and Casey decided to let Haley and Sam deal with the clean up of Truman. She kept pulling him through her condo until they reached the bathroom, which is where he finally noticed the fact that his knuckles were bleeding. Letting his hand go, Casey dug around for the first aid kit he knew she kept handy in the house. When she pulled it out, he pulled himself up onto the counter and watched as she bandaged up his wounded hand.

"That was a stupid thing to do, Derek," She spoke softly, and he nodded, agreeing lightly.

"Yeah," He chuckled to himself and winced a bit. "Especially since you hate me."

"I don't hate you, Derek," She replied softly, not meeting his eyes. "I was just mad when I said that. Those three words should have be spat into Truman's face. Not yours."

Derek nodded again and watched as her hands hesitated leaving his own. Her cheek were a deep red as he reached out and tipped her chin up so that she'd meet his eyes. He searched them for a while as she rested her hands on his knee, her fingers curling around the denim.

"You're important to me, Case," He whispered and tears shine in her eyes.

"I know," She nodded and leaned into his touch as he cupped her face with his warm hands. "You're important too."

"Casey," He said as her eyes started to drift away and she looked back, trying to hold in the tears. "You're worth it."

Nodding, she said she understood, but Derek doubted it. So, to show her, he pulled her in for a soft kiss. A simple peck on her bruised lips, and she was kissing back, gripping his knee tighter as if he would disappear. He chuckled as she sniffled and pulled from the kiss, trying to hide or stop the tears some how.

"It's all right, Casey."

"But you hate tears," She tipped her head back and blinked, trying with all her might not to crumble before him like she had that night a week before.

"I do," He nodded, sliding off the marble counter to pull her into a warm embrace. "But you're worth it."

_Fin_

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**Hope you all liked it! Much Love,**

**~TaRa**


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